Pi2Scart – RGB Video for Raspberry Pi

It’s 2017, and everyone is excited about 4K Gaming, except a few fellows who enjoy “Retro” Games. People like myself enjoy Games from the NES/SNES Era, when the optimal resolution was 240p.

With today’s standards, we expect modern Hardware (like the Raspberry Pi) to output video via a digital interface (HDMI) in 1080p (FullHD) minimum.

I still have an old CRT (a great Philips 32″ Matchline), which still are the best to play old games on. Now although I connect my raspberry Pi to this TV with it’s Composite Video (and outputs a Video Resolution of NTSC;), the image quality is wishy-washy.

Enter Pi2Scart, a great little add-on from arcadeforge.net, which plugs directly into the GPIO from the Raspberry Pi.

Pi2Scart

The Pi2Scart is able to output a clean RGB Video Signal (with a clean sync signal) and supports outputting a resolution of 240p, perfect for “Reto-Games”. The Sound is passed through with a small 3.5mm Minijack cable (provided with the Pi2Scart)

I already have my usual systems (SNES, Mega Drive etc..) connected through RGB-Scart (see my RGB vs composite comparison) and I can tell the image quality of the Pi2Scart is equivalent of the quality of the original systems. (at least there is absolutely no noticeable difference)

With the Pi2Scart, it’s the first time I enjoy NES Games in RGB Quality, and it makes a huge difference in my opinion.

I’m happy with the Pi2Scart and can only recommend it to everyone who connects a Raspberry PI to a CRT.

Improvement in Picture quality cannot be better described than with some comparison pictures :

Left Picture = Composite, Right Picture = Pi2Scart (RGB) , use the Slider to adjust display.

Notice

All Pictures were taken with a Smartphone, in front of a Philipps Matchline 32″ CRT

For a GameBoy Game, the difference is very subtle

Notice the blurred lines around Mario in Super Mario Land 2 on GameBoy?

But as soon as there’s color, the difference is more noticable :

Zelda Oracle of Seasons on GBC

Mega Man 2 on the NES

Gunstar Heroes on Genesis / Mega Drive

Golden Axe Warrior on Sega Master System

With more detailed graphics, the difference becomes more and more visible:

I found a big difference between the “Pixel Perfect” Mode and “Full-Screen” Mode; the first is a lot sharper for me (using a Sony BVM), but it’s annoying that the image is surrounded by those black bars. NES and SNES have the black bars (as you’ve pointed out).

I’ve noticed PC Engine is displayed offset to the left (with a larger black border down the right as opposed to the left).

Are you finding therefore you’re having to tweak settings in Lakka per emulator therefore, or are there options in the config.txt to explore still do you think? I’ve only just tried setting it all up; will pass on any info I discover.

Hi, Thank you for your feedback, the comments are now enabled for that post.
I didn’t notice an offset for other systems such as PC-Engine (but I’m not using a PVM),I will look closer over the Weekend and keep you posted.
Modifying config.txt will affect all systems, so I think it’s mostly an Emulator (Core) Option. Which Core are you using for PC-Engine?

Edit 27/04/2017 :
I have tried PC-Engine on my setup, but I didn’t notice any particular offset, on a CRT TV. Maybe you could try asking this in the Lakka Forums (https://forums.libretro.com/c/libretro/lakka-tv-general) , you’ll reach much more people, and maybe someone has a solution for your issue.

Hello there! Thanks to your review, now I know that there’s a way to survive after my consoles explode. 🙂 Do you know if this accessory works with those other embedded systems, like the Orange PI? Some of these are more powerful than the Rasp PI3B. Thanks!

Hi! I bought the pi2scart a few months ago and have been playing with your Pixel perfect mode. Works great but again as someone else has already stated, the black bars on each side of the picture. Is there any way to get around it. Googled the hell out of it and have been reading bla bla bla. I can not pick “Custom Aspect Ration” in retroarch. My screen goes black. Am I doing anything wrong?

Hi Rikard,
Unfortunately, Pixel Perfect Mode means square Pixels, which results in a square Picture. I think you have to disable “Integer Scale” to enable “Custom Aspect Ratio”. I would like to point you to Mike Chi’s Video on how to fine-tune Lakka’s 240p Video Settings.